Doom: Prophecy of the Three Slayers
by Kylandor
Summary: 3 way crossover between Doom (2016), Classic Doom and the 2019 movie Doom: Annihilation. Takes place immediately after the end of Doom: Annihilation and is set on Joan Dark's Earth, will feature enemies and demons from all 3 sources. Rated T for ultra-nightmare violence, strong language and blood & guts, lots of guts! Will switch between the points of view of the main protagonists.
1. Chapter 1

E1M1: Earth Hellgate, Universe AU-1193/UAC-33

"There are many beginnings, many realms under our everlasting domain. But only one authority, one King. We have had many enemies, but only two have ever threatened our rule. Prophecy however, warned of a third." - Prophecy of the Third Slayer, Chapter 1.

* * *

UAC Nevada Experimental Lab, Breach T+:00:00:00:56 - Point of View: Lieutenant Joan Dark

* * *

She couldn't move, helpless on the floor because of the drugs. Once again, she screwed up. Being so close to death makes one think back at all their mistakes, their regrets. The fools who seized her now dead, one of those things, those demons as the chaplain called them approaching her, eager to finish what was started long ago. She tried to move, barely raising her hand between her and the creature. It stood briefly, making a crackling sound, laughing at her.

Then it was without a head, the force of whatever destroyed it's cranium was immense, and point blank as it's brains were scattered across the wall above her. It fell lifeless, and before slipping out of consciousness, Joan saw an armored warrior with a variety of weapons carried on it's armor, some of them she recognized, others she did not. The Demons around ignored the surviving scientists and all screeched in a way she had never heard them screech before as they saw him. He charged at them, reloading, blurry her vision was becoming, the last thing she saw before slipping into sleep was the warrior ripping and tearing one of the demons apart with his armored hands.

* * *

Memories flashed by, her mother on death's door, the failed mission she was sent on. Being forced to kill someone who was close to her.

* * *

UAC Nevada Experimental Lab, Medical Bay, Breach T+00:07:52:37 - Point of View: Lieutenant Joan Dark

* * *

She woke up slowly at first, eventually though she quickly tried to move, she was restrained. Looking around as her eyesight came back, she noticed she was in a medical bay, a UAC Health Station nearby, opened, emptied. She heard the distinctive click of a loaded shotgun and turned towards the sound, seeing the armored warrior there, loading what seemed to be a semi-automatic shotgun, a double barreled saw-off resting on a table nearby. He got up after loading and placed both weapons in his armor, the warrior currently towered over any marine armor she'd seen, maybe it was an experimental UAC Armor.

Then she saw the mark on his helmet, similar to the language she saw on the gate, she began to struggle, trying to undo her restraints. She heard a sigh from the suit. It was human and male. He grabbed an Assault Rifle and walked over to her and tore the restraints with his armored hands and held the rifle to her, puzzled briefly, she stared. He spoke, his voice deep, forceful, indicating all he knew was violence. "You hesitate, you die. You act, you live."

He shook the rifle briefly again, catching his meaning, though still slightly disoriented from waking out of a sedative, she grabbed the rifle and nodded. He turned to the door and a flaming ball blasted through it, in walked one of the demons. Joan raised the gun but was too slow compared to the warrior who raised his combat shotgun swiftly, faster than what should be humanly possible and fired two rounds into the demon's head, dropping it immediately as what remained of it's head was splattered across the walls.

He walked over to the door and began firing again, Joan's training kicked in, she moved into formation behind him and saw several other demons, two remained and she opened fire, expending an entire mag to bring down one, the armored warrior simply destroyed the other with an explosive shell from his combat shotgun.

Joan reloaded and aimed at the warrior, saying "I want answers, now." The Warrior ignored her and walked over to the dead demons, his armor seemed to glow a golden hue briefly as he seemed to bask in his kills. He then turned, faster than before and said calmly "Your world's UAC opened two hell portals to a lesser realm of hell. These things are weak, insignificant, but still to be slaughtered like all the rest. Sooner or later however, the big ones will start coming through, and your world will become another realm of hell."

Joan signed and replied "I know what these things are planning, but I don't know who you are, or what you want."

The warrior replied, saying "They call me the Doom Slayer. I have one purpose, one motivation. To rip and tear, until it is done. They are cruel, horrible, without mercy. But I am worse, and they know this."

He then grabs a weapon from the ground, Joan recognized it as the BFG-9000. The warrior held it up to her and said "You dropped this."  
Joan grabbed it and replied "You don't want it?" He shrugged and tapped a large weapon on his back "Mine's bigger."

A shriek was heard and what seemed like dozens of demons and possessed scientists rushed from a corridor, Joan felt fear and backed up, the Warrior however charged head first, shouting "Rip and tear!" He seemed like a madman, ignoring his guns as he plunged into hand to hand combat, effortlessly ripping the heads off the demons and possessed as if they were made of cardboard, two scientists broke through and charged towards Joan who walked back and fired her BFG at them, taking them out with one shot each. Turning behind her due to the shrieking of others moving from the opposite corridor she grabbed the third plasma grenade from her belt and tossed it towards them, destroying most though a few continued to charge, almost immediately as the blast settled she heard behind her metallic stomping as the Warrior charged, glowing a red aura and charging fast, tearing into the other group of demons with his hands, as she turned to check behind her, she saw the aftermath of his berserk, a sea of gore and severed body parts, broken bones and crushed craniums. Turning back to assist, grabbing her assault rifle and stowing her BFG-9000 over the shoulder, she stopped briefly, she was too late as the warrior simply tore the last of the hostiles clean in half with his hands. He dropped the creature and again glowed yellow briefly before walking towards her and saying as he walked past "You hesitate, you die. You act, you live."

Joan followed him, saying "Where are you going? We don't know how many of them got through, we need backup." He scoffed and said "Hundreds, maybe thousands by now. I'm heading to where I know they'll go. Get backup if you want, I don't need it." He then turned towards a locked door and simply kicked it clean off the hinges, drawing his sawed off shotgun and rushing forward, Joan sighed and pursued him, he clearly had no patience or regard for his own safety, or so she thought.

* * *

POV: Doom Slayer, Breach T+00:08:12:03

* * *

As they walked down the corridor, a door down the hall was torn off it's hinges by a Hell Knight. It roared and charged down the corridor, Joan shouted "What the fuck is that thing!" The Slayer grinned under his helmet and charged forward with his shotgun, shouting "Finally a real fight!" Joan fired her assault rifle to no effect on the knight, despite hitting it's head, the Slayer rushed and leaped onto the left wall, firing both barrels to stagger the Hell Knight then jumped in the same momentum off the wall, lunging at the beast's head and ripping it clean in half before kicking the corpse to the ground, his armor glowing yellow as he absorbed it's life force and hell energy, materializing bullets and charges for his weapons through arcane arts unknown to the slayer, but known to the one who built his suit. He walked forward, reloading his super shotgun, the rookie following him, she was too hesitant, a screw up in his mind.

Eventually the pair reached an elevator to the surface and the two entered, some action shooter video game music from the 1990s playing from the speakers. The Slayer pressed the button for the top floor and the doors closed, Joan reloaded her BFG with the last charge and sighed before speaking, saying "You got a plan?"

He nodded and said "Kill them all." Joan sighed and said "You call that a plan?" He nodded again and said "Never failed me yet."

The door opened to reveal two hell knights and 12 Imps, the ones that he knows and loves to slaughter. Charging forward, firing both barrels at a Hell Knight to stagger it, he then tossed a frag grenade at the group of imps, staggering most of them, one rushed to the side and tossed a hellfire blast at him, he sidestepped to evade and noticed a plasma round from Joan's BFG slam into the second Hell Knight, which was knocked back but endured, it then charged at her. The Slayer was focused on the staggered knight, quickly tearing into it and then ripping apart the nearby staggered imps within seconds. One Imp lunged at him and he grabbed it by the throat and tossed it at the charging knight's knee, tripping it in it's charge as Joan destroyed it's skull with her BFG, the Imp rose only for the Slayer to change to his Heavy Assault Rifle and shower it in 8 .50 BMG rounds in a second.

The pair continued out to an open space and across was a group of lesser imps from the hell dimension Joan traveled through, A scientist she recognized as Dr. Betruge. He noticed her and grinned, turning and saying "I see-"

The Slayer just drew his UAC Pistol and shot him in the head, dropping him immediately, the other imps began rushing across the catwalks and rails towards him as he fired the pistol at them, charging it at times to fire a more powerful shot, his accuracy was pristine when using the charged shot, he then switched to his heavy assault rifle as Joan fired plasma rounds from her BFG at three of the Imps, incinerating them. The Slayer then unleashed the remnants of his magazine into the rest of the demons, absorbing their energy and converting it into more ammo, removing the need to manually reload his weapon as he then continued to move forward.

Seeing sunlight, the two exited and briefly basked in the sun, before seeing several Cacodemons flying overhead and seeing smoke in the distance. Joan shouted "Fuck, we're too late." The Slayer was about to say something when they heard a voice shouting.

"This is for daisy! This is for my squad! This is just because I want to see your guts!"

A soldier with green armor and ginger hair was seen fighting a swarm of imps with a pistol and assault rifle, he was clearly winning the fight.

* * *

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

E1M2: Death Factory, Universe AU-1193/UAC-33

"Born and trained a failure, the third slayer will be pitted against our hordes, but the Doom Slayer will save her, the Doom Slayer and the Doom Marine will train her and she, alongside the others, will herald the second time any world has survived and endured our wrath, for without all three slayers, they could not succeed." - Prophecy of the Third Slayer, Chapter 2.

* * *

Nevada, Breach T+ 00:08:40:09 - Point of View: Doom Marine

* * *

Turning an Imp into gore and guts with a chainsaw, the Doom Marine switched to his trusty pistol and opened fire on the other hordes around him, noticing gunfire from two others, they were shooting at the demons. The Doom Marine felt a desire, a motivation to fight his way towards these two and did so, slaughtering all in his path with a mere pistol, once they were in close distance, no words were said, they began to kill as many demons around them as possible, the lady he saw was doing poorly compared to the other man in heavy armor, but she still held her ground nonetheless, the Marine noticed a UAC logo on her armor and scoffed openly, if she was a Marine, she must have not even finished basic, even he received enough training to tear men limb from limb with his bare hands, though the last hell portal he went through changed the scenery, and even himself, considerably, the demons here were a mix of weaker and stronger versions of what he had fought for so long, eventually, it was just the three of them, he and the lady were low on rounds, however the big guy seemed to never run out of bullets, something to do with his armor maybe.

He spoke first, saying "Where am I? This isn't my Earth, I can tell that much."

The Lady was about to say something when the big guy spoke first, saying "You must be from another Earth, the hell dimension connects infinite worlds through various hell portals. My world wasn't even called Earth but was one just the same."

The marine shrugged and said "Where's the rest of the demons, I need to kill more, all of them. They killed my pet daisy, I'll never forgive that."

The memory of his beloved pet bunny's head impaled on a pike still rang true to the Marine, he would slaughter all demons in all realms of hell and earth, only then would he find peace.

They were interrupted by a voice, it did not echo from outside but somehow, from within, as if a psychic communication.

"This world is now ours. Find the slayers, they must not escape."

* * *

POV: Joan Dark, Breach T+ 00:09:00:32

* * *

It's a trick, it had to be, there's no way they could have conquered the Earth so quickly from one point of entry, however her thoughts were interrupted by pillars of red energy shooting into the sky from several points, points down roads leading to cities. The Slayer interrupted her thoughts, saying "We're too late to save this world, all we can do is blow it up."

The two others looked towards him briefly, the Marine spoke first, saying "There may be survivors, my world barely survived, I only entered the hell portal on Mars one last time to hunt down and destroy all the demons so they couldn't invade again, we can still save this world."

He took his hand and brushed off the blood in his hair, revealing it was light brown, not ginger, the orange being dried blood mixed with his hair.

Joan nodded and said "You seem to know more about them then the two of us, care to explain how they took an entire planet in hours from a single point of entry?"

The slayer shook his head and said "There's never one point of entry, there's always hundreds, thousands even. The only way to destroy them all is to locate the source of the hellgates in this world and destroy it, that will leave all the demons without a connection to their King, finding it however is a needle in a haystack, it's simpler to just locate the strongest source of hell energy and implode it into the planet's core."

The Marine pointed at an object in the distance, a citadel of sorts risings from the ground and said "That count as this source?"

The Slayer looked over at the structure and reloaded his double barreled shotgun and walked towards it, saying "Yup."

Joan sighed, she turned to the marine who was following the Slayer, reloading his pistol. These two were single minded, but they were undoubtedly effective and knew more about these enemies then she did, seeing no other option, she followed with them, checking her munitions along the way.

* * *

Breach T+ 00:11:23:42, POV: Doom Slayer

* * *

The others stopped to eat and drink in a now abandoned gas station they cleared out. He didn't need anything though, his armor sustained him, kept him not only alive, but immortal, even outside of it he could endure for millennia due to the long term use of it, or so he thought anyway, the Traitor never really explained it in full to him and he never bothered to ask beyond the basics. His purpose is simple, clear, unalterable. Rip and tear, until it is done.

When the others walked out, he looked over them and then back to their destination, it was still an hour away on foot, but his suit continued to tell him this was the source of hell energy here, as well as his experience telling him. For some reason, the demons here had decided to place both the source and the furnace in the same location, perhaps it was most efficient for this world, he didn't really care, they would free this world and if that failed, he would do what they were unwilling to do, destroy everything, to deny the unspeakable menace another world. He had done it countless times before, and will do it countless times again if need be.

After all, they twisted and corrupted his son, which he was then forced to kill to spare unending torment.

Until the last demon fell dead, his work would never be done.

After a long journey, they finally reached this place, this corrupted and malformed industrial factory converted into a Hell Palace.

Their first opponents at the gates were Barons of Hell.

He grinned under his helmet and rushed at them with his super shotgun, Joan rushing to the side, face astonished and terrified at the creatures forming green plasma in their hands, at first the Doom Marine didn't seem to care, before shouting "WOW! They're big! They must have lots of guts!"

Indeed they did, as the Slayer would soon demonstrate.

One blast from both barrels wasn't enough, even in the head, Joan's munitions were, useless, even her BFG didn't do much but slow them down and anger them. Worse still, she running out of rounds, the Slayer took his combat shotgun and tossed it to her as he lunged to rodeo one of the Barons and took a chainsaw and drove it into the back of it's neck, likewise the other Marine was barraging the other Baron with his pistol.

Joan grabbed the shotgun and unleashed three rounds at the other baron's head, staggering it, she then rushed at it, getting point blank and firing two more rounds, shattering the baron's head into several pieces of gore, which showered over her, covering her in it's blood.

The Three continued onward, with the Slayer reloading his super shotgun and tossing a box of ammo at Joan, she didn't have the armor, she couldn't rejuvenate ammunition, but the Slayer could, so he would give her munitions as time went on, as demons fell dead.

An arrangement of assault rifles and dead UAC Marines, thousands of them, piled upon a mountain of corpses in what could only be called a "Lobby" of sorts. Dark Reddish flesh twisted around the metal foundations of what used to be a factory.

Black oil rose and formed a kind of flaming knight with a sword, it spoke, saying "Slayer, Marine, Dark One. You will-"

A barrage of ammo slammed into the creature from the Doom Marine, saying "Just shut up and die!"

The Slayer grinned and Joan also opened fire with her shotgun, the Slayer also unleashed his super shotgun on the creature, however it sustained the attacks and rushed forward, charging at the Slayer who drew his chainsaw and dueled it, the bullets being useless.

Eventually however the Slayer ripped it's sword from it's hands and slashed it dead with a graceful attack. He never forgot how to wield a blade, even with all the new fancy guns from the first UAC incarnation he came cross.

It glowed red in his hands and bonded with the hell energies in his armor, before absorbing into him.

He had a new toy.

He smiled.

Joan reloaded her shotgun and the Marine took a rifle from the corpse mountain and began carrying as many magazines as he could carry, which amounted to a giant array of bullets across his waist which seemed to not slow him down despite being 20% of his body mass. The man was built like a human tank, even more so than the Slayer, according to the Slayer's observations.

Joan also grabbed a rifle and some ammo, though nowhere near as much as the Marine.

They continued down the factory's rooms, as time went on, Joan became more accustomed to battle against the demonic horde, discarding her previous failings and adapting to the sheer, unrelenting carnage before her, covered in now dried demon blood.

Tearing through the doors nearby were hell knights, 6 of them. The three slayers said nothing and began to move rapidly on their own, engaging them. Joan learned from before, relying on the shotgun to deal damage and her rifle to weaken them, the Marine was used to fighting demons, he began to skirmish them with his Rifle and use a chainsaw when they got close.

The slayer wanted to test his new toy and used no guns.

Summoning the hell energy in his armor, he formed the sword, now altered and reminiscent of his ancient blade. He slashed and hacked everything in his wake, slaughtering nostalgically as he tore into them. One of the demons died, forming a yellow orb, Joan walked towards it but the Slayer ran toward it, taking it instead. He then moved like a speedster from a comic book, rapidly slashing through every hell knight and even a baron of hell with his new sword.

As the last demon fell, his sword reabsorbed into his arms, he would need to kill them gloriously in order to recharge it's hell energy, or come across a berserk orb.

He then turned to Joan and spoke, saying "Do not approach the orbs, your kind are too weak to endure them. Haste, which I took before you did, would grant you incredible speed for 30 seconds, before your heart would literally explode in your chest. Berserk, a reddish orb, will leave you permanently in a fit of rage and with strength to kill demons with your bare hands and the desire to kill everything around you, friend or foe. I have the mental fortitude to overcome it, you do not, it is not psychology, but biology, as the Traitor mentioned."

Joan sighed and said "Thanks I guess, any other orbs to avoid and spot for you, since you can use them?"  
The Doom Marine spoke before the slayer could, saying "I've used these orbs before, they don't kill me, they just make me kill better."

The Slayer nodded his head at the Marine and held out his fist, the Marine recognized the gesture and the two fist bumped with rock on hand signs after the bump. The Slayer then turned back to Joan and said "Purple Orb, Quad Damage. A sealed demon is in there, any object or part of yourself you use will be four times more powerful, four times more durable, four times sharper. This includes bullets fired from guns, kinetic or energy. Even your bare hands will be amplified four-fold. Weak minds succumb after 30 seconds, becoming catatonic and unresponsive afterwards, as if their soul was drained. Blue orb, Invulnerability. This orb you would be able to use, it will leave you immune to any damage, generate air for you if in a vacuum or airless environment such as water. After 30 seconds it wears off. Be warned however, though you can survive even a planet destroying itself, as you have been granted true invulnerability for 30 seconds, you still need to breathe after the power up wears off, so don't create an inhospitable environment on the power up unless you have a way out before it wears off. There are also regeneration and invisibility orbs, I know not their effects on normal humans. Any more questions or can we get back to killing?"

Joan replied "Which way to the boss battle?"

The Slayer and the Doom Marine grinned, she was finally getting the situation, the Slayer pointed towards a stairwell and they began to ascend up the stairs, when they reached the next floor, it was of no resemblance to the factory whatsoever, hundreds of Imps stood before them in a phalanx formation, another Demonic Avatar in front of them.

The Avatar spoke, saying "Slaughter them! Feast on their flesh and their souls!"

The Imps charged forward, the Avatar remained in place, sword in the ground and gripped by both hands.

The Slayers opened fire, Joan unleashed an explosive grenade, the Marine began shooting their heads with his new Rifle and the Slayer relied on mobility and the super shotgun, killing them, staggering, gloriously killing them with unarmed attacks.

Eventually he summoned his sword again and began to slaughter them more effectively, more efficiently hacking through them with combination attacks and graceful swordsmanship mirroring that of a Medieval Knight in the crusades.

Despite the horde, the slayers defeated them, a pitched duel of blades began between the Avatar and the Slayer, as his blade ran out of energy and absorbed back into him, he dashed back, looking to Joan who nodded and sent an explosive shell at the Avatar, destroying it.

More floors, more demons, eventually they reached the roof, a balcony with a giant red lance of hell energy shooting into the sky, turning it slowly from blue to a rusted brown color.

Screeches were heard, a group of 6 pinkies chased after them.

Joan shouted as she opened fire with her shotgun, staying mobile due to their speed, saying "Die you ugly sons of bitches!"

The Doom Marine, having found a super shotgun of his own on the way up, was unleashing death on two pinkies whilst the Doom Slayer unleashed a chainsaw on one and then absorbed a berserk orb that came from his kill, he lunged at the other pinkies, tearing them limb from limb with his bare hands, shouting a language the other two slayers did not recognize.

After a few minutes, the carnage was over and nearly a thousand Imps began rushing out of the sky as a greyish sphere formed in the energy beam.

Joan and the Doom Marine stepped back a bit as the Slayer fired his BFG, a green energy sphere rushed forward, green lightning exploding demons around the sphere as it then exploded at it's target, causing an explosion that enveloped the entirety of the Imps, leaving only a dozen standing. A dozen that soon became 0 as Joan opened fire with her own BFG, using the last round as another imp leaped at her, pinning her to the ground only for the Slayer to tear it off her and grab Joan's BFG and channeled his suit's energy into it, firing a reddish shot at the Imp, the subsequent shots were normal, as he somehow instantaneously reloaded and recharged it, it's cartridge glowed again.

He then handed it back to Joan, fully charged with ten times it's ammo capacity, yet somehow not rupturing. He then spoke as he took his own BFG and approached the Hell Lance, saying "My suit makes guns better as I kill with them. Whenever I don't upgrade them by finding shit that is."

The Doom Marine spoke, saying "We can still save this world right?"

The Slayer nodded and fired his BFG at the Sphere and then spoke as it flew forward, saying "Yes, at a cost."

Joan replied "What cost?"

The shot hit it's target, destroying the entire castle, demons everywhere on this world turned to ashes, the sky began to slowly turn blue again as survivors began to come out of their hiding places.

* * *

Unknown Location, Unknown Time. POV: Joan Dark

* * *

She looked up, a rusty sky, she looked down, ashen ground.

She recognized it's rocky structures somewhat, the enemy's dimension. But it was different, the sky wasn't cloudy with a white light, it was a rusty orange, sharper orange than the castle. She was alone.

She heard screeches, out came skeletal creatures with humanoid, barely, humanoid, figures.

A voice called out.

"The Unwilling will tear you asunder for your insolence, Dark Slayer!"

Joan felt hopeless momentarily, dropped her BFG and punched the ground, before picking it up again and opening fire on the weak, but numerous Unwilling.

Seconds passed.

Minutes...

Hours...

They still came and Joan was out of ammo, so she ran, scaling the terrain and looking for anything she could use as a weapon.

She came across a skeleton of a knight, a sword in it's grip, she took the blade and said "Sorry, I need it more than you do."

The Unwilling came, screeching, she lunged towards them, intent on killing as many as she could.

* * *

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

E1M3: The Seraphim, Hell Dimension.

"And after her world saved at the cost of exile to our realms, there the third slayer would nearly fall to the unending hordes of the unwilling, fighting with a fury she had never wielded before, had it not been for the wretch who shall not be named, she would have fallen and our reign would be secure. But the wretch would save the Dark Slayer, the wretch would arm her, the wretch would reveal our darkest and most closely guarded secrets to her and she would, unlike the previous doom slayers who came before her, devise and deduce our only vulnerability and set out to reunite with the Doom Slayer and the Doom Marine in hopes of scattering the realms of hell across time and space, separating them." - Prophecy of the Third Slayer, Chapter 3.

* * *

Hell Dimension, Unknown Date, Unknown Location - Point of View: Unknown.

* * *

The Unwilling kept coming, she fought hard with a blade despite no formal swordsmanship training.

Alas her fury was tempered by logic, reason and trauma, trauma she could not endure, chaos she could not embrace.

One of the unwilling took the blade from her hand and the others swarmed over her, she felt one reach to grab her left arm, the other grabbed her right, the weight of the unwilling was impossible to fight, and so she closed her eyes, waiting for the end.

For the second time she thought it was all over.

For the second time, she was wrong.

It was at that time I made myself known, unleashing energies unspoken of for several eternities.

Red lightning ripped through the unwilling, incinerating them, leaving not even ashes behind, just heat.

Joan Dark, the woman from the second Earth to survive the horde, she was too disciplined, too rigid, not embracing the chaos needed to destroy them with unending and unyielding conviction.

Not yet anyway.

I walked towards her, my true face and form concealed in my hood and cloak, the only vestiges of my true form visible to her were my hands, ashen and rigid, as if forged from a dark metal.

I extended my left hand to her, offering to aid her standing, as she was confused, yet relieved at my assistance.

When I lifted her to stand, she had questions, speaking before I did.

"Who are you? What are you?" she said. I replied with a cold, dark voice "Names matter little to me anymore, so many give me different names, all differing from their culture. Some cultures call me an angel, others a demon. Some call me Sammael, some call me Lucifier. Some simply call me the Seraphim, the Traitor or if you ask one of the endless minions of hell, the wretch who shall not be named."

She pondered her situation, I had cleansed the area of filth, yet more would surely come soon, they saw all things in their domain.

I raised my hand, creating a portal to a dead Earth, barren of man and demon, for it had value to neither. I gestured for her to enter, she stared at me for some time before obliging, I imagine she assumed anywhere was better than hell itself.

I entered in after her, the portal closing behind us.

* * *

A Dead World, A forgotten time. POV: Joan Dark

* * *

She looked around, the sky was night, stars filled the sky, more brightly than she had ever seen. The ground and the rest of the environment was pitch black, she could see nothing.

The figure who sent her here created a fire with a method she could not discern easily, perhaps similar to the hellfire the imps made? No it felt different, it felt, neutral and had a blue color to it, not orange or green like the demons make.

She sat near it, taking refuge from the cold, which felt the coldest she had ever felt before, and she had been in very cold environments through her career as a UAC Marine. She spoke, saying "Where did you take me? You also didn't answer my question of what you are."

The figure sat down, displaying no reaction to the bitter cold, the fire was clearly for her, not it. It spoke, saying "A dead Earth, no value to man or demon, cast from it's parent star into the intergalactic void over countless untold millennia, once there was life here, a thriving civilization, but when the horde came, they in order to spite them, threw their world into the cosmos, draining it of the heat over time, the world cooled and is now one of the few remaining worlds in this era. No new stars have been born in this universe for tens of thousands of your years, soon, eventually, the ones here will die, leaving only the dark stars, eventually they too shall die, leaving nothing but cosmic balance, true equality as you would say. I believe most Earths call this eventual lack of form Heat Death. I have seen it, endured it, even accelerated it in many worlds and realities. As for what I am, I am simply a traveler, though at one point in time, I was the favored son of a great entity, I grew, disillusioned with my father and eventually rebelled. Time passed and I learned the error of my ways when I alone was the last living being in my universe. Then a portal opened, I found the horde, I found a realm I had once wished to create to spite my father."

She listened intently, trying to discern it's intentions, she then replied "Why tell me all that? I didn't ask for your life story, just where I am and what you are."

It nodded it's hooded and concealed head and replied "Perhaps you did not ask, but you did wish to know. I am perceptive as to the desires of humans. I tell you this because you need to know. The other two I aided, they neither wish to understand nor would they, they are tools, easily manipulated to destroy the horde, but they are but two. They will rip and tear until it is done, but I have recently learned of a way to accelerate the process."

Joan nodded and shivered, the cold creeping up, sensing this the entity before her increased the intensity of the flames. She griped of the cold, saying "How cold is this place?"

The entity replied "Given it's position and complete lack of any thermal energy whatsoever, I'd reason it to be Absolute Zero. Even at that temperature, it takes time to drain one of energy, you may not have noticed but it is devoid of any atmosphere as well, or rather it's atmosphere is so cold you are sitting upon it right now, I have made adjustments to you to arrange life support, however I cannot stop all thermal energy from seeping from you, hence the fire, to compensate for that."

Joan was shocked, she looked down and touched the icy ground, she felt nothing but cold. It chuckled and said "Were I to decrease your life support, I suppose you could feel the frozen nitrogen briefly before frostbite claimed your hand. Even with the multitude of worlds they pull to their domain, this one is useless to them, it's previous inhabitants made quite certain of that." Joan looked back up to the hooded and cloaked entity and spoke again, saying "You said you had a way to accelerate the destruction of the demons."

It nodded and said "Less a way to accelerate their end and more of a way to disorient and disorganize them, they will, eventually, recover the links, but not before splitting into endless factions, more so then they have now, in a way that will prevent them from expanding for long enough to be noticed by a power far greater than the three slayers combined. Long enough for that power to see the need to erase all realms of hell from existence."

Joan replied "Why not simply reveal them to that power now?"

It laughed and said "Even I am not strong enough to survive it's domain, with all the power I have, I would be swatted away by a lesser resident of that domain, my very entry would be noticed quite quickly as well, were I to somehow endure long enough to find this power's exact location, well, by then I would have been hunted by those who keep balance in that universe. Even the hordes of hell are nothing to the entities that dwell there. Their mightiest would tremble before those at the lowest levels of power there. No I must make an echo travel across all that is creation, all universes, all realities must feel it. The only way to do that, is to shatter their link. The others you fought with would not understand my plan nor trust it, but you I believe, can see the value in the needs of the many over the needs of the few."

She pondered this for a moment before saying "What exactly would the cost be?"

It replied swiftly with a cold and unfeeling voice "An entire universe, full of life. That is the cost to save untold earths, untold universes, from eternal damnation. But in order to create such a ripple that shatters a universe and sends waves across creation, we must shatter the links, the tethers that allow the horde to travel across realities. Sadly, the liberation of the wraiths was not enough to do so, for they found and made a pact with a similar race before inducting them into their horde."

Joan replied "What needs to be done?"

It stood and said "First we must properly arm you, were you to have the best of your world, you would still be insufficiently equipped to descend unto the first realm, the origin and birthplace of evil. Instead I offer you the best and finest from another realm that fell to the horde, but it will not be so easily acquired. As soon as you return to their realm, they will know where you are, where you are going and quickly will deduce what you seek."

It created a blue fire in it's hands, and briefly, she saw it's face.

It was a monstrous form, different from the monsters she faced in hell, what she briefly saw reminded her of a creature from ancient fiction, exactly what name she could not recall, only that it was some kind of eldritch horror beyond human understanding, though she doubted this was that entity, the resemblance was unmistakable.

It forged the fire into a rifle and three magazines containing 100 shots each, the rifle was hellish in it's architecture.

It spoke, saying "The UAC from the Slayer's reality called this weapon a Hellshot. You will find it lethally effective at close range against the horde. I will warn you, Joan Dark. In addition to the lives of others, the price to pay for this journey will be closely crossing the line towards losing what many from your world would call your humanity. Not your soul however, you'll need that."

Joan scoffed and said "I've crossed lines before, one more won't hurt."

It moved it's head slightly and then handed her the Hellshot Rifle. Though she did not see it, she could not shake the feeling that under it's hood, the entity was grinning, smirking or otherwise smiling in some way or fashion.

* * *

Hell Dimension, Unknown Time. POV: Joan Dark.

* * *

Entering the portal, the sudden change from the cold, rigid surface of the dead Earth to the damp, humid, almost tropical heat of Hell.

Almost immediately the portal closed behind her, the entity had not followed her, however the path before her was quite clear, skulls arranged across the field, indicating warnings to any who would approach.

As she followed the trail of skulls, she came across an altar of sorts, in it was a sword carved in stone, inscribed on it was the demonic Sumerian writings she could not read. It was quiet, too quiet.

She reached for the sword, Hellshot in the other hand, as she grabbed it, red hell energy arced like lightning through her and the sword absorbed into her hand, suddenly, she could read the inscriptions.

"To any who would grasp this blade, both power and suffering await you. The horde cannot wield it because of the magick inscribed upon the blade, it sits, waiting for the prophesied third slayer, all of hell will tremble when the blade is drawn from it's tomb, all of hell will unleash their unholy fury upon the wielder, let it be known however that no effort must be made to stop the Dark Slayer from taking the blade, for any such effort would guarantee the end of our rule. It is only after she takes the blade, that she may be stopped."

After finishing her read of it and adjusting to the energy she felt arcing through her body like electricity. It was like getting shot by a taser, yet feeling empowered, strengthened, perhaps even intoxicated by it.

The unwilling screeched, she could hear them.

Again she was surrounded by these skeletal zombies.

She opened fire with the hellshot, unleashing arcs of red lightning from the weapon, it tore through the unwilling easily.

She carved a path forward, feeling some kind of otherworldly pull in that direction, why she could not say, only that it felt that was where she had to go.

Eventually she escaped the horde and tripped in her escape, sliding down a steam, reaching a river. She swam to the shore, just in time, she noticed a waterfall leading to what appeared to be a bottomless pit.

She smelled something off, salty, dank.

The river was not normal water, but sweat.

She scoffed, this place was abhorrent in every regard, the sooner she finished her mission, the sooner she got home to help rebuild, the better.

She ventured forward towards this otherworldly pull, red arcs of lightning formed as a creature appeared, somehow she recognized it despite no previous instruction on it, possibly from the sword she took.

A Summoner.

It sent a powerful wave of red energy toward her, somehow she managed to evade it, she noticed she was moving faster than before, reacting faster, instinctively, instead of using the hellshot, she reached from within so to speak and summoned the sword, red lightning channeled from her left hand and took the shape of the sword, her body moved on it's own accord as she bolted across the area, evading the summoner, killing the imps and hell knights it brought forth with the sword before impaling the summoner with the weapon, which converted the entire demon into red energy that then absorbed into her, briefly her eyes glowed red, the sword absorbed into her as well and she regained control of her body.

This sword was in of itself, some kind of living entity, and now she was forever linked with it.

It had a name too, "The Gardener" she could not communicate with it however.

She followed the call again, eventually coming across an army of imps, two in fact, fighting each other, two summoners on each end, it was like a hellish recreation of a medieval battlefield.

In between both armies was another entombed sword, the source of the call she felt.

She waited a bit, but realized they would keep fighting for days, weeks even, so she ventured forward, watching and looking for any way she could reach the sword, then she saw a green arc of energy blast through one of them, though it was at a distance she recognized the new force of wrath and destruction moving through the demons.

The Doom Slayer, armed with his BFG and wielding his double barreled shotgun, tearing through the demons relentlessly as he always does.

He didn't seem to have much direction, simply going towards the greatest concentration of hostiles so he could kill as many as he could.

She continued onward, eventually being spotted by the demons who attacked, she opened fire on them with the Hellshot and made her way through the hordes, eventually the summoners ordered an attack each, intent on sandwiching Joan between two opposing ranks of Imps.

Again she felt the urge to draw upon the Gardener and did so, she felt, intrinsically somehow, it's power was limited, and it would recharge itself with each kill she made, regardless of what weapon or method she used, generally increasing in scale depending on what demon she killed, the stronger the more energy received.

She eventually ran out of hellshot ammo and then summoned the sword again, slashing through the imps with ease, this time she was in control of her actions, and it showed, she did not display the same grace and form she did before, but she was still effective enough to kill them.

Slashing and carving a path to the other entombed sword, she reached it's circle, suddenly, the imps turned away, running as fast as they could away from it, the summoners even trying to fight their own instincts and kill the routing imps before being overwhelmed by whatever primal fear grasped their minions, the Doom Slayer felt something too, rushing toward Joan rather than away from her however.

She grabbed the blade, flashes of images before her eyes, of a man with a bat like sword, lightning shooting through it, facing off against some kind of demonic creature, wielding two pistols.

The energy enveloped her, this time it was blue lightning, not red.

Her sword formed in her hand, changing form, diamond like crystals floated around the grip, forming a spherical center and a blood red crystal, red and blue arcs of lighting shot out from it in all directions, vaporizing all the demons around her, even briefly drawing some energy from the Doom Slayer, which caused her to know his story somehow, intrinsically.

He was once a simple man, a farmer.

One day he won a swordsmanship competition and was inducted into the Night Sentinels, an honored position, a venerable organization.

He met a fellow warrior, female, eventually they became friends, then husband and wife.

They had a son.

The Horde invaded.

Their Son at this time was of age and joined the fight, eventually becoming a Night Sentinel himself.

He died on the battlefield, and the Slayer made a deal to reclaim him, revealing the source of the night sentinel's power to a lowly hell priest.

They betrayed him, the wages of treachery being suffering. His son twisted and reborn as the Icon of Sin.

He sought out his son and killed him, bringing him peace yet again, peace for his son that was, not for him.

When they took his world into their realm, he went on a rampage, killing every demon he found, it then began to blend together, years, decades, centuries, millennia, he was unstoppable, he was then made even worse by the Seraphim, the traitor, the entity who set Joan on her path to these swords.

Most of what she found here was demonic, even aspects of the Doom Slayer's weapons and armor.

This sword however, looked the opposite. Angelic even. White and golden colors, and now embers coming from it's blade.

Again she felt the loss of control, an observer in her own body as it moved through the surviving demons, slashing through them, each kill increasing the intensity of the embers before igniting the sword. Something was still missing, one more piece was needed, one more blade to absorb. The Slayer summoned his own demonic blade, fighting alongside her.

When the last demon fell, their swords absorbed into each other, they stared at each other briefly, she felt, somehow, he had also learned her story as well.

They said nothing, walking forward, Joan leading the way, towards the final sword, that much she knew again, this call she could not explain. At a crystal formation nearby she caught her reflection briefly, the blood was no longer dried on her, she was pristine, no blood to be seen, her eyes were glowing red though, the power she felt was immense. It was like a high, she felt she was invincible, yet she knew this was not true, she could still be killed.

But the entity was right, she felt, somehow, she might no longer be considered human. What awaits her at the third and final blade, she could not say, she both looked forward to it, and dreaded what she was becoming at the same time.

She pressed on, still motivated sufficiently by a desire for vengeance, not burning as great as the Doom Slayer, but it burned still, burned enough to move her feet and arms forward towards the next chapter of her story, whatever it may be.

* * *

To be continued...


	4. Chapter 4

E1M4: The Gatekeeper's Rebirth, Hell Dimension.

"On her path to gain power once sealed so that she might attempt to bring the realms of hell to separation, the Dark Slayer will face the hordes, finally awakening her true potential, it would be on that day that the Dark Slayer will cease to be the hunted and would become the hunter. The great shrieks of many hellspawn could be heard that day, for the power and wrath she and the other slayers unleashed upon us was at that moment, unrivaled." - Prophecy of the Third Slayer, Chapter 4.

* * *

Hell Dimension, Unknown Date, Unknown Location - Point of View: Joan Dark

* * *

They had been walking for some time, before finally reaching the location Joan felt the pull of the final piece of this weapon, the Gardener. A massive castle built out of stone, strangely absent of the usual blood and gore befitting the castles and temples of hell.

They entered unopposed, there seemed to be no demons guarding the entrance, the interior was linear, more closely resembling a human castle than a demonic one. Each room served a purpose that wasn't torture and destruction, there was the entry hall a kitchen, albeit without any provisions, not that Joan felt hungry anymore, something about her recent transformation had removed her need for food or drink, given how long they've been moving through Hell, she suspected she no longer needed sleep as well.

Eventually she and the Doom slayer came across the throne room, packed with dead demon corpses, the flayed remains of an imp showered the wall nearby as the Doom Marine had unloaded his double barrel shotgun.

"That explains the lack of resistance."

The Doom Slayer nodded and Joan approached the source of the supernatural call, finding a sword in a stone, like the rest. Suddenly a voice spoke, feminine, angelic even, everyone present could hear, unlike the demonic voice, this appeared to resonate from the sword rather than telepathically.

"This is our last testament, we have ensured the hordes of the damned cannot destroy this great weapon, however we know they were able to separate it into three pieces. This shrine senses you have liberated and reunited two of the three. This is your last chance to turn back, should you value what remains of your humanity, withdraw from this place. Should you be willing to transcend the human condition to bring about your destiny, grasp the artifact and fight with heaven's wrath behind you to the gate and bring about what was foretold."

Taking a deep breath, as the Doom Slayer watched, she reached for the sword, as she grasped it, it absorbed into her, she felt a sudden surge of power tear through her and alter the way she perceived things. She could sense energies, auras, around the Doom Slayer she sensed both a dark aura and a different kind of aura, a primal one was as best she could call it. An explosion of light erupted from her, sending a beam of energy into the sky, smelting through the roof as if it was not there, visible across the many miles of hell that surrounded them, cascading it's energy through hell, notifying all demonkind of what had just transpired.

The demonic voice spoke, saying "The Prophecy is at hand, all hordes of hell, all demonspawn, abandon your missions, abandon your quarry. Descend upon the dark slayer and tear her limb from limb! Do not allow our realm to be fragmented! Defy fate! Defy destiny!"

The Doom Slayer brushed off some dust from his armor and said "Looks like you pissed them off."

She landed softly, a revolving sword with fire spewing out of it in her hands, her hair glowing white and her eyes crimson red, glowing energy flowed from her back like angelic wings and briefly, she was given a vision.

* * *

Unknown Hellscape.

* * *

She looked about the vision, a mere observer, a void spoke, the voice of the hooded one that sent her on this quest.

"What you interfere with now, is bigger than you could ever imagine."

"If you continue, you will bring down the heaven's wrath!"

"It is written, it is their time to give penance."

"You are but one man..."

"They are no longer your people to save."

The landscape became somewhat familiar as she saw structures, man made structures, fused with hellscape, demons and possessed men she had not yet encountered.

The Doom Slayer, his armor different slightly, wielding a demonic sword, different from the one she saw him gain earlier.

The vision jumped to another scene, a citadel with an almost angelic vista over the Earth, she could however clearly make out demonic markings visible from that high up, covering what must be continents worth of land.

Again the voice spoke, but addressing another she felt.

"You stand here at a precipice, two choices before you."

"Fulfill your true destiny, become a divine one."

Another voice, angry, angelic in tone yet wrathful as well.

"Or burn as a traitor, a legacy worse then that of the damned!"

* * *

Throne Room, Hell Dimension. POV: Joan Dark

* * *

The vision ended, she saw her angelic reflection in the stone that once held the sword she took, the stone now a mirror like reflective crystal.

Briefly it lasted, before the glowing stopped, her energized wings faded and her hair stopped glowing, though it was still pure white, her eyes still glowing crimson red. Her complexion had changed slightly as well, it had a more pale hue to it. She held up the revolving sword, now known to her as "Gatekeeper" instead of "Gardener" how she knew this she could not piece together, perhaps it was something intrinsically imprinted into her memory now that she had changed. She felt lighter somehow, no that wasn't accurate, everything else felt softer, weaker to her. Her strength must have improved dramatically.

"No more time for self reflection." said the Doom Slayer.

Joan turned and followed him as he started to walk to the exit of the ancient citadel, before them was a massive army of demons.

Barons of Hell, Knights, Imps, all manner of dark ones, arranged in battle formations, she could see banners of some kind of filament, blood red, likely some kind of leather, with demonic runes across it.

The Doom Slayer cracked his knuckles and said nothing, charging forward into battle with his shotgun. A green portal opened up above Joan and she stepped out of the way, a Hell Knight slammed down, dead, the Doom Marine ripping a chainsaw out from it's chest and grabbing his double barreled shotgun, grinning at the armies of hell that were now charging forward against them, shouting "Rip and tear!" as he rushed into battle as well.

Joan was now used to their single minded personalities, this was the reason they lived, they seemed to exist only for one purpose, to slaughter the armies of hell.

This was also now her purpose.

She summoned the Gatekeeper and momentarily, the demon ranks fluctuated, as if many of them became overwhelmed with terror, then the demon commanders began slaughtering a few of their own to restore order in the ranks, this worked.

Rushing forward with her new weapon, she decided now was the time to see what it could do, she felt instinctive pulls this time, now in control of her own actions during the first use of her newfound power but somehow aware of how to use the weapon, as if being guided by her own subconscious or maybe the weapon itself.

The feminine voice spoke again, but it was different, it resembled her own, but echoing. It said "Critical Ready."

The blade began to spin faster and it's flames pulsed furiously, as if overflowing with whatever energy coursed through it. Joan leaped forward into the sky, farther then she ever expected she could, her senses however adapted on their own, she could not mentally explain it other than that she perceived the sensation of falling differently. She aimed the sword downwards on a large battalion of demons away from her allies who were effortlessly slaying the minions of hell despite the overwhelming numbers. There must have been millions of demons here, she could see no land untouched by the hordes in the direction she was facing, the downwards aimed sword surged, creating a torrent of flame with instantly incinerated any demonic entity it touched, cleansing through them leaving not even ashes. After destroying what must have been hundreds in one fell swoop, the inner voice spoke again. "Critical Expended."

She reached the ground, landing in the typical superhero pose, she cursed herself as the landing hurt, though what should have broken her bones merely pulsed some pain through them. She wouldn't be landing like that again, that was for sure.

She rushed at the nearest group of demons and lunged into battle, her sword swinging and tearing through the demons easily, though the larger ones were able to withstand slightly better, a well placed and strong enough swing could still carve clean through the barons of hell with ease.

As her sword slew the warriors of hell, it's fires grew in intensity as did the speed at which it's blades rotated. She instinctively changed her stance at a charging pinky and willed the blade to discharge golden pulses of energy, it took a few shots but the pinky was incinerated. She grinned, this weapon was becoming her new best friend.

* * *

POV Shift: The Doom Slayer

* * *

Running his sword through a hell knight, the Slayer then switched to his Super Shotgun and shattered the skull of another at point blank range. He spun to his right and together with the Doom Marine, they both unleashed their Super Shotguns into a charging baron of hell, knocking it back as the Doom Slayer boosted the Doom Marine into a jump, the Baron of Hell looked up briefly only to see a chainsaw driving into it's face, turning it into a pile of blood and gore, the Doom Marine laughing as he reveled in his kill.

Turning his head briefly to note Joan's position, he noticed she was almost completely relying on her new sword for combat, moving swiftly through battle, reminding him of a battle he once saw between the forces of hell and one of the Wraiths, that was long ago, he had not seen such power bestowed upon someone for some time though remarked she still needed more experience to wield it properly, perhaps this prophecy the sword stones spoke of would come true. Perhaps his mission was finally going to be made a little easier. He chuckled as he turned back to the battle, ripping an Imp's arms off with his bare hands and then brutalizing it with it's severed arm.

He stood above the dead imp, lunging into the horde of other imps in a jump that evaded several hellfire blasts they threw at him. He thought as he ripped and tore them asunder.

"Between the three of us, they don't stand a chance."

Time passed, hours, days, those three somehow needed no rest, no sustenance any further, fueled by each kill they made. It was clear to Joan and the Doom Slayer how they managed it, but the Doom Marine was an enigma, did the Seraphim alter him as well? Or did he find something else to sustain him. It mattered not to them beyond mere curiosity, so long as he could fight, it wasn't important just yet.

As with many of his fights, he lost track of time, as did the other two slayers. By the end of it, the lighting never changed, though the ground did change, now a sea of blood and gore across a vast field, with some clearings due to Joan's sword's critical attack as she called it.

They slaughtered millions, but then a great shriek, a familiar shriek was heard.

He looked towards it, as did his comrades, it was a sound he'd never forget.

A titan.

It's great hands rose, climbing one of the great cliffs onto the battlefield, towering over them as would a castle. It lifted it's right hand and hell energies swirled into it, summoning a great hammer. It then clenched it with both hands and roared with a furious intent only once seen by the Doom Slayer before.

It's horns were great, it's jaw grating in anger as it beheld the slayers, it clenched and prepared to move, causing the slayers to adjust themselves to react.

The Titan lunged at them, the Doom Marine and Doom Slayer repositioned themselves as Joan's energy wings formed again and she took flight to evade.

This would be one hell of a fight...

* * *

To be continued...


End file.
